If held today, a pep rally for regionalism would deliver the muted sound of one hand clapping.

For about 2 1/2 years, organizations based in the Roanoke Valley have championed regional cooperation as a key component of economic revitalization. They've taken a few limited steps to rally formal support in the New River Valley for an approach to economic development that touts the two valleys, Franklin County and the Alleghany Highlands as one region, inextricably linked.

Their success to date has been less than rousing.

A Regional Economic Strategy released in July 2002 by the Fifth Planning District Regional Alliance has not been endorsed by a single government in the New River Valley, according to information from the alliance. The strategy cites the economic value of Roanoke's "urban core" and of the New River Valley's "world-class research university." Its introduction asserts "it is critical that these assets are seamlessly connected to maximize the impact that each has on regional economic development."

A strategy-related campaign touting "NewVa" as a regional brand hasn't yielded an eruption of enthusiasm, either, in New River - a region that includes the counties of Montgomery, Giles, Floyd and Pulaski, the city of Radford and towns that include Blacksburg. Among these governments, only Pulaski County uses the NewVa brand on its Web site. The brand's proponents argue its use will increase the region's sense of internal identity and boost its visibility elsewhere. What dynamics might account for the New River Valley's ho-hum response?

A number of things, according to interviews with New River Valley officials.

History. Baggage. Wariness paired with skepticism and unanswered questions. Evidence of potential hypocrisy in the Roanoke Valley, especially regarding NewVa. The sting of newspaper criticism described as ill-informed.

Not to mention relative economic vitality in Blacksburg and Montgomery County, where Virginia Tech and the Corporate Research Center have helped spin off the types of new economy, knowledge-based companies coveted by the Roanoke Valley.

And the New River Valley has its own marketing priorities, officials say - to sell itself as an independent region with its own special attributes and its own unique future.

Finally, a few officials said they'd never heard of the Regional Economic Strategy and had only a passing familiarity with NewVa.

'What's in it for us?'

Aric Bopp is director of business development for the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance. He said there is resistance in some quarters to perceived pressure from the Roanoke Valley to join a collaborative approach to economic development.

"I don't think anyone would deny that," Bopp said. "People just like to be cautious and think things through. We are marketing ourselves to the world and need to think carefully about how we position ourselves."

John Muffo is a member of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and a professor at Virginia Tech. Muffo said he and others in Montgomery County wonder why they should reflexively board a train fueled by strategies that seem designed to benefit most the Roanoke Valley.

"I guess part of the question is, 'What's in it for us?'" Muffo said. "To be honest, a lot of the initiatives I've seen from Roanoke are for the benefit of Roanoke."

And the Roanoke Valley has a history of sometimes heavy-handed and belated communication, he and others said, about projects that would affect New River.

"We're usually told, 'Here's our great idea. Why don't you guys sign on?'" Muffo said.

He cited as one recent example the commuter bus service between Roanoke and the New River Valley, known now as the Smart Way bus, a grant-funded project of Valley Metro. Montgomery County officials weren't involved in that proposal early on and should have been, he said. Along with Blacksburg, Montgomery County ultimately emphasized a need for a stop at the Roanoke Regional Airport, he said.

"They [Valley Metro] didn't know that there was a need because they didn't ask," Muffo said. "There's not a lot of us running down the mountain anymore to go shopping. There's not a lot of us running down the mountain to do much of anything except to go to the airport."

Gary Huff, Blacksburg town manager, recalled a similar process when Valley Metro approached the town council about the commuter bus service. He said concerns expressed by Blacksburg officials were unfairly criticized by an editorial in The Roanoke Times that described the officials as begrudging and "blinkered."

"The whole idea was that we wanted to have some input," Huff said. "No one is fighting regional cooperation. But to have cooperation you have to both listen and talk."

Huff said that as far as he knows no one has approached Blacksburg about endorsing the Regional Economic Strategy or using the NewVa brand. He was one of three officials in the New River Valley who noted recently that the NewVa brand has been absent from the city of Roanoke's Web site. The others were Clay Goodman, county administrator for Montgomery County, and Bob Isner, director of the county's department of economic development.

Increasing visibility

Darlene Burcham is city manager in Roanoke, a city lauded repeatedly by the Center for Digital Government for its technology-savvy government. Burcham said the city recently updated its Web site and has plans to add the NewVa brand, which was formally announced nearly a year ago.

"We've had other things we needed to do as a priority first," Burcham said. "We've also spent some time and energy rolling out our own brand."

One Web page designer in Roanoke said adding the NewVa brand to the city's Web site would likely be "a very simple process" that could be achieved "literally in a matter of minutes." The city allocated about $300,000 for its own brand identity, which was unveiled months before NewVa.

Wayne Strickland, executive director of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission and secretary for the Fifth Planning District Regional Alliance, pitched the NewVa brand last week in a presentation to the board of directors for the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance.

Strickland reviewed for board members the $169,811 process that yielded NewVa, a name and "graphic representation" that emerged after about a year of study, consultation with Landor Associates of San Francisco and input from focus groups. Strickland said the region needs increased visibility nationally and internationally.

"We still get calls to the [Roanoke Valley] Convention & Visitors Bureau asking whether we are the Lost Colony," Strickland said.

Isner, an alliance board member, expressed skepticism about NewVa's effectiveness. He said he felt the NewVa brand would accomplish little without an ambitious and very expensive promotional campaign, for which funds are not available. He said the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance has its own name and logo and a goal of advancing economic development for its member governments.

But board member Ken Anderson, chief executive officer of Blacksburg-based Anderson & Associates, said he felt NewVa has some potential. Anderson admitted he was not an early fan of the brand. He didn't like the colors and his cynical side wondered, "Is that the sun coming up or the sun going down?"

But, Anderson added, "It has to kind of grow on you." And he voiced support for efforts to promote regional cooperation for economic development.

"I think you have to sell it and it takes some time and it has to be low key," he said. "I've seen a lot more interaction and a lot more trust and relationships forming between the Roanoke Valley and the New River Valley since the time of the New Century Council."

And Goodman, Isner and Huff all said they support a regional approach to economic development when it makes sense for the taxpayers of Montgomery County. Goodman and Huff cited, for example, ongoing work with Franklin and Roanoke counties to site a new regional jail.

Small counties' views

Chris McKlarney, county administrator for Giles County, said the county probably will wait to see what stance the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance takes for the NewVa brand and Regional Economic Strategy.

"There are still some questions to be answered," McKlarney said.

But McKlarney added that Giles County, like many small, rural counties, generally has more to gain than lose from most regional economic development efforts.

George Nester, county administrator for Floyd County, said the county is thinking about using NewVa but has not made a related policy decision. One consideration is the county's budget cycle, he said, because inclusion of the brand on stationery and other materials would add printing costs.

John White, economic development director for the town of Pulaski, said he was not familiar with the Regional Economic Strategy and guessed that few people in the community had knowledge of the branding campaign.

"It's just nomenclature if people aren't rallying to it," he said. "If you ask the people on the street in Pulaski what they think of NewVa, they would say, 'Huh?'"

Pete Huber, county administrator for Pulaski County, said the county decided to include the NewVa brand on its Web site after being encouraged to do so by officials in Botetourt County. He said Pulaski County wanted to show support for regional marketing efforts.

And there has been cooperation in regional marketing efforts conducted in tandem by the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership and the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance. Bopp said the two organizations have traveled together to trade shows and have published a joint brochure aimed at recruiting employers to the region.

"The first goal is to get them here," he said. "Once we do, we can go ahead and beat ourselves up competing over a prospect."

Isner said he has heard debate both public and private about which valley needs the other more.

"The answer is, we definitely need each other to have a robust economy."

Remaining optimistic

Muffo said he believes the Roanoke Valley's focus on the New River Valley becoming a regional partner stems from the recognition that the latter is farther along the path of economic transition - moving to a knowledge-based rather than manufacturing-based economy - because of the presence of Virginia Tech.

Roanoke businessman Victor Iannello is chairman of the Fifth Planning District Regional Alliance and vice president of the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership. His company, Synchrony Inc., is one of two private companies in the Roanoke Valley whose Web site includes the NewVa brand.

Iannello said in an e-mail that he remains optimistic the brand will catch on. He noted that the New Century Technology Council recently changed its name to NewVa Corridor Technology Council, a decision he said "greatly increased the visibility and credibility of the brand.

"It was a bold move and one that showed that NCTC is choosing to be a leader rather than a follower," Iannello said.

"It is our intention to be so wildly successful in using the brand to unify the region and to market our assets that the remaining organizations will want to be part of our success rather than be left behind," he said.

Beth Doughty, president of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, was chairwoman of the Fifth Planning District Regional Alliance when much of the work on the Regional Economic Strategy and NewVa brand was completed.

Doughty acknowledged disappointment this week about the response to date from the New River Valley.

"I think [establishing] regional cooperation is a long process," she said. "We need to keep our eye on the goal, which is economic prosperity for all."